Electric welding-machine.



F. L. SESSIONS. ELECTRIC WELDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, I9I3.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I- F. L. SESSIONS.

ELECTRIC WELDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY]. 1913.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

F. L. SESSIONS.

ELECTRIC WELDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlLED MAY 7. I913.

1 1 96, 304. Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- mM ta M V X F. L. SESSIONS. ELECTRIC WELDING MACH|NE.APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. 1913.

1 1 96,304. Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

' 4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

W rm n n rfn m1 27 1 K7 3 /34 33 t 54 J5 Y L I v 09 Ira/enfor- UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. SESSIONS, 01 LAKEWOOD, OI -IIO, ASSIGNQR TO THE STANDARDWELDING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

ELECTRIC WELDING-MACHINE.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

Application filed Kay 7, 1913. Serial No. 766,003.

.dent of Lakewood, county of Cuyahoga,

and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement inElectric \Velding- Machines, of which the following is a specification,the principle of the invention being herein explained and the best modein which I have contemplated applying that principle, so as todistinguish it from other inventions.

The present improvements, relating as indicated to electric weldingmachines, have regard more particularly to tube welding machines of thekind described and claimed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 658,741 to OttoParpart, dated December 25, 1900, wherein rolls are provided for forcingthe abutting edges of the tube together by compression, while a heatingelectric current is simultaneously passed acro$ the joint between suchedges, by directly pressing suitable electrodes, orelectric-current-conducting devices, along the opposite edges. Theelectrodes just referred to preferably take the form of rolls havingcontact edges adapted to conform with the tube being welded and suitablyconnected with the source of current.

The object of the present invention is to ment of the foregoing andrelated ends, the

invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying theinvention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of thevarious mechanical forms in which the principle ofthe invention may beused.

In said annexed drawings: Figure .1 is a A provements; Fig. 2 is asideelevation of the same as viewed from the right in Fig. 1-

Fig. 3 is a plan view of certain parts of said machine; Fig. l is a sideelevation of a portion of the tube feeding mechanism viewed from thesame side of the machine as in Fig. 2, but with the driving mechanismtherefor omitted; Fig. 5

tudinal section through one. of the electric current conducting rolls orelectrodes and the mounting of the same; Fig. 6 is a transf versesection of the mounting of such roll taken on the plane indicated by theline is a central, longi- 6-6, Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is another trans versesection of such mounting taken" on the plane indicated by the line77,-"F ig. 5.

The general form of the frameof the ma chine is well. indicated in Figs.1 and 2,1" from which it will be. observed that the base portion or bed1 of such frame not only supports the. operating mechanism proper, butalso serves to house the motor 2, that is utilized in driving saidmechanism.'

Space is rendered available for thus including the motor in the base byremoving fromsuch base the transformer 3, which has herethe same on twospaced standards 4 that rise above the base and the operative mechanismdirectly supported thereon. This dis position of parts not only has theadvantage of thus rendering the machine more compact, so as to requireless floor space, but the transformer is so disposed that directconnections may be made between. the terminals 5 of its secondary coiland the welding electrodes 6, as will be presently described. This is,of course, very desirable owing to the large volume of the current thatrequires to be used in welding.

The operating mechanism proper comprises in addition to the aforesaidwelding 8, 8, to the rear of such electrodes, said two The annexeddrawings and the following sets of feed rolls being respectively carriedon horizontally disposed spindles or shafts 9, 9 and 10, 10, whichextend longi- -tofore been housed therein, and supporting tudinally ofthe machine to the right hand no its tion to such two sets of feed rollsthere are provided two sets of guide rolls 12, 12 and 13, 13 alined withsuch feed rolls and mounted on axes parallel with the shafts 9 and 10;there is also provided a set of pressure rolls 14, 14 which are locateddirectly below the current-conducting rolls 6, being mounted. on theupper ends of vertically disposed spindles 15, 15, one lying on eachside of. the

driven through suitable change-speed gearing 20 and connecting shafts 21and 22,

.from the motor which is housed in such base portion as previouslydescribed. On

the inner end of shaft 19 a beveled pinion 23 is mounted which mesheswith a beveled gear'24 that is mounted on the lower end of one of thevertically disposed shafts 15,

on the upper ends of. which are carriedthe pressure rolls 14, the othersuch shaft 15 being driven from said first-named shaft by means of gears25. 1 Before referring to Figs.5, 6 and 7 which show the details ofconstruction of the current conducting rolls, or welding electrodes,proper, and the mountings therefor, it should be noted that said rollsare supported from brackets 26 which are slidably secured to the frontfaces of the standards whereon the transformer coils are supported, saidbrackets being vertically adjustable by means of screws 27, which arerotatably but not longitudinally movable in said standards and threaded.in said brackets (see Fig. 2).

The main element in the mounting of each electrode or current conductingroll is a central tubular supporting member, or-hollow shaft 28, (Fig.5), the front end of which is in the form of a disk 29 to which inay be,

secured any one of a series of annular plates 30, the outer edges ofwhich difier in their cross-sectionalform 'to fit tubes of differentdiameters and hence curvatures. Such annular plates 30 are removablysecured to the endsof the supporting tubes by means of set screws 31, aswill be readily understood.

Each said tube is supported in a housing 32 of general cylindrical formby means .of twosets of ball-bearings at each end, each set consistingof a thrust and a radial hearing, 33 and 3&, respectively, whereby thestrain produced in pressing down at anjangle upon the tube, as shown 1nFig. 5, may be counteracted or taken up. The housing constitutes theultimate support of the electrode mounting, being adjustable in suchbracket longitudinally of its axis by means of a collar 35 exteriorlythreaded on the rear end of-said housing and rotatably,'but notlongitudinallymovable, in said bracket.

"32 in turn held in the'bracket 26,"which It will be understood that itwill be nece'sf sary, not onlyto vary the adjustment of the electrode upani down, but also transversely, when a change ismade in the size of thetubing being welded. p f

The casing 32 is provided with an open ing 36 on its upper face betweenits ends whereby a portion of the hollow shaft 28, or

central tubular support of the electrode, is'

exposed, such exposed portion being provided with a wearing sleeve 37tightly fitted thereon, wherewith contact is had a brush 38 thatextendsi-nto the opening, or recess in the casing, andis connected withthe corre sponding terminal of the transformer secondary by means of aheavy flexible copper lead "39. It will be understood that both thebrush, the Wearing sleeve and central, tubular support will bepreferably made of this Insulating material is interposed not onlybetween the transformer 3 and standards 4, and between the latter andthe frame of the machine as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, but also betweenvarious parts of the electrode and-the support. therefor so as toprevent the dissipation of the current through other than the desiredchannel, viz. from the lead- 39 to the brush 38 and thence through thewearing sleeve 37, the central tubular meniber 28 andthe contactingannulus 30 to the work. I 3

Means are also provided for passing a.

cooling fluid through the central supporting member of the electrode, orshaft 28, whereby said member, as also the electrode may be in a measurecooledfisuch means consisting of a tube 13 extending longitudinallyfromthe rear to near the front end of the bore of said member, said tubebeing held by means of apacking ring '44.- at the rear end. of themember, so as to permit the free rotation of. the shaft.' Connections 45and 4:6 for supplying water to the tube and withdrawing it from themember, or vice versa, are provided, and will be-suitably connected, ex-

ternally of the machine, as need not be ex- 1 plained further.

The general mode of operation of the foregoing described machine shouldbe readily 7 apparent from the description of the construction of itsseveral parts and their individual operation. The tubing to be weldedwill be passed through the machine on the line ww in the directionindicated by the arrows in Fig. 3, such tubing being thus fed by theaction of the feeding rolls, assisted by the pressure rolls which arealso positively driven along with such feed rolls proper. The tube ismaintained in proper axial position in passing through such feed andpressure rolls by means of an encircling spline 48 on the uppermost ofthe guide rolls 12, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the contacting faces ofthe welding electrodes will lie one on each side of the joint which isto be welded. The fusion of the abutting edges of such joint, whichoccurs upon the passage of the heating electric current across the samefrom one such electrode to the other, causes a slight bur or bead to beformed so that the feed and guide rolls on the farther side of theelectrodes are formed with encircling grooves 49, as is also shown insaid Fig. 3.

By mounting th current conducting rolls in the fashion just described,it will be observed that there is no occasion for the current to passthrough the bearings 33 and 3%, which support said rolls and which mustnecessarily be subjected to considerable strain, such current being allpassed through an entirely separate connection. This renders it possibleto makesuch circuit connection as nearly perfect as possible, and at thesame time prevents both injury to the other bearings, and the disturbingeffect which they have on the flow of the current, whereby variationshave heretofore been caused in the latter, seriously affecting thequality of the work.

The general arrangement, moreover, of parts entering into the machine,not only renders the structure extremely compact, but also places thetransformer where the current can be led directly from the terminals ofthe secondary coil to the contact blocks, or brushes, of the respectivewelding electrodes. The amount of current wasted in overcomingresistance between the terminals and electrodes, is hence reduced to aminimum.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanismherein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the followingclaims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my'invention:

1. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a framecomprising a base portion and two spaced standards rising above thelatter; means adapted to feed work through thespace between saidstandards; brackets vertically adj ustably attached to the faces of saidstandards, respectively; a housing supported in each of said brackets soas to be adjustable transversely of the corresponding standard, saidhousing being provided with spaced bearings; a shaft journaled in thebearings in each such housing; electrode rolls carried by theinner endsof said shafts in such space between said standards; brushes havingelectrical contact with said shaftsbetween said bearings; a transformersupported on but insulated from said standards, the secondary coil ofsaid transformer having its terminals disposed adjacent to said shafts;and flexible leads connecting such transformer terminals with saidbrushes.

2. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a framecomprising a base portion and two spaced standards rising above thelatter; means adapted to feed work through the space between saidstandards; brackets vertically adjustably attached to the faces of saidstandards, respectively; a housing supported on each of said brackets soas to be adjustable transversely of the corresponding standard, saidhousing being provided with spaced bearings; a hollow shaft journaled inthe bearings in each such housing; liquid supply and dischargeconnections with the interiors of said shafts; electrode rolls carriedby the innerends of said shafts in such space between said standards;brushes having electrical contact with said shafts between saidbearings; a transformer supported on but insulated from said standards,the secondary coil of said transformer having its terminals disposedadjacent to said shafts; andiflexible leads connecting such transformerterminals with said brushes.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with asupport; of a hollow shaft rotatably mounted therein; a tube extendingfrom one end of the said shaft to a point near the other end thereof; anelectrode roll carried by and closing such latter end of said shaft; andliquid supply and discharge connections for said shaft and tuberespectively at the first-named end of said shaft.

4. In mechanism of the character, described the combination with asupport, of a hollow shaft rotatably mounted therein; a tube extendingfrom one end of said shaft to a point near the other end thereof; anelectrode roll carried by and closing such latter end of said shaft; andmeans for supplying a cooling liquid to said tube and said hollow shaft.

5. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with asuitable frame; of a longitudinally extended housing endwise adjustablein said frame andprovided with spaced bearings; a shaft ]Oll1 naled insaid bearings; an electrode roll carried by one end of said shaft; andan electric contact brush pressing against said shaft between saidbearings.

6. ln mechanism of the character described, the combination with asuitable frame; of 'a longitudinally extended housing endwise adjustablein said frame and provided with spaced bearings; a shaft journaled insaid bearings; an electrode roll carried by one end of said shaft; anelectric Contact brush disposed between said bearings; and means adaptedto resiliently press said brush against said shaft.

7. In mechanism of the character described the combination with asuitable frame; of a longitudinally extended housing endwise adjustablein said frame and provided with spaced bearings; a shaft journaled insaid frame, an electrode roll carried by one end of'said shaftranelectric contact brush pressing against said shaft between saidbearings;-, and water cooling .means for said shaft and said roll.

8. In mechanism of the character described the combination with -asuitable frame; of a longitudinally extended hous ing endwise adjustablein said frame and provided with spaced bearings; a hollow shaftjournaled in said frame; an electrode roll carried by said shaft; anelectric contact brush pressing against said shaft between suchbearings; and means forintroducing into and discharging a cooling liquid

